Poor circulation in the extremities is a major problem in people with diabetes and others. There is nothing available to treat this problem. Symptoms are managed through use of special socks and shoes and moisturizing creams. In addition, effective healing and functionality following plastic and transplant surgery is often less than optimal. Healing often takes much too long. Effective healing and functionality is greatly enhanced by increased blood flow which results in improved oxygenation and tissue nutrition.
Local transdermal delivery of drugs, while desirable, is limited by current technologies. Few pharmaceutical entities have successfully been delivered transdermally in effective dosages. For example, a limited number of drugs, such as steroids, nicotine and nitroglycerine, which are non-charged and do not form hydrogen bonds, have been successfully delivered by passive diffusion, relying on the concentration gradient between outside and inside the skin to deliver the agent in accordance with Fick's first law of diffusion. The amount of pharmaceutical agent that can be delivered through simple diffusion is also limited. For instance, once the concentration inside the stratum corneum becomes equal to that outside, flow of pharmaceutical agent stops.
As these examples illustrate, what is needed are systems and methods for increasing local blood flow in tissues.